The Frontier Security Institute is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit focused on artificial intelligence and national security, launched in 2026 (Source: communicationstoday.co.in). Its executive director, Ike Harris, describes the organisation as "the translation layer between frontier AI and the National Security Enterprise" (Source: linkedin.com). Since its launch it has been quoted in trade coverage of federal AI evaluation policy (Source: communicationstoday.co.in).
Leadership
Harris was most recently the Republican tech lead on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and served in the Navy before his congressional staff work (Source: feeds.megaphone.fm; linkedin.com). That background places the institute's staffing at the intersection of the China-competition and frontier-AI policy tracks described at US-China AI Competition: Different Races, Different Metrics and AI and National Security.
Activities and positions
The institute's public commentary to date has centred on federal AI evaluation. On 7 August 2026, when the National Institute of Standards and Technology proposed guidelines for evaluating AI systems and opened them for public comment, Harris called them "the first step in standardizing the way the federal government evaluates AI systems both for itself and for its contractors" (Source: communicationstoday.co.in). The instrument was subsequently identified as NIST AI 200-2, the TEVV-Athlon framework, issued as an initial public draft with a 60-day comment period closing 6 October 2026 (NIST AI 200-2 ipd — The TEVV-Athlon Framework for Evaluating AI Systems (initial public draft, August 2026); see NIST AI 200-2 — The TEVV-Athlon Framework for Evaluating AI Systems).
The framing of federal evaluation guidance as reaching contractors as well as agencies connects the institute's stated interest to the procurement-side questions at Government AI Procurement and AI Pre-Release Vetting.
Public record
As of August 2026 the institute's public record consists of its launch announcement, its executive director's media appearances, and quotations in trade coverage of federal AI evaluation policy. No organisational publications, funding disclosures, board composition, or staff beyond the executive director have been identified.
Relationships
- related: House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, NIST AI 200-2 — The TEVV-Athlon Framework for Evaluating AI Systems, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), AI and National Security, AI Pre-Release Vetting, Government AI Procurement.